Who's On Team Sonny?
by Sonny at Twilight
Summary: So Random's old cast member, Mandy, has returned and wants her job back. But what about Sonny, her replacement? Sides are taken, and outside voices speak their opinion in favor of Mandy, upsetting Sonny even more. Full summary inside. xPERMANENT HIATUSx
1. Surprise!

**Hey! I was inspired with this idea about a week ago and was going to wait until I finished my other stories, but I always get anxious that someone's going to come up with the same idea before I have the chance to post it, so I figured, what the heck? Also, I made a little banner for this story on blingee dot com so the link to that is on my profile. Check it out. You can see who I'm imagining as Mandy as I write this. Ugh! I always forget the blasted disclaimer and end up adding it later. I do not own_ Sonny With a Chance._ And, as promised, here's the full summary.**

**Summary:  
****What would happen if Mandy, _So Random_'s old cast member who left a while back to become a movie star were to suddenly come back? _And_ ask for a spot back on _So Random_? But with the economy in such bad shape, how can they possibly afford to keep both Sonny _and _Mandy on board? Suddenly, the cast is split completely down the middle. Tawni and Grady make up Team Mandy and Team Sonny consists of Zora and Nico. And Sonny... Sonny's just caught in the middle. And if someone outside of the cast were to voice their opinion? More chaos would ensue, of course. And of course, what good is a story without a little jealousy and romance too? So who stays and who goes? Read to find out in, _Who's On Team Sonny? _**

Chapter One: Surprise!

_***One year ago* **_

"_Marshall, what does she mean 'working with us'?" Tawni asked, pulling Marshall aside. _

"_Well she's our newest cast member, Tawn. You remember? We said goodbye to Mandy on our last show," Marshall reminded Tawni. _

"_I remember the goodbye," Tawni said faking cheerfulness. "I just didn't think there was gonna be a hello." Tawni jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards Sonny, her _newest_ cast member. _

_Mandy Morretty had been on the cast of _So Random _for a year and a half before she left to take a major movie deal and become a bigger star. No one had heard from her since she left. No one ever thought she would come back… _

_***Present time***_

The day had started out ordinary. Hanging out in the prop room, joking around, rehearsals, lunch, a couple of pranks on various people, all normal activities for the Randoms. Now they were back in the prop room going over sketch ideas.

"I don't care what you guys say. I am not dressing up as a giant lobster," Tawni complained as she looked at the drawn out idea on Zora's paper.

"Yeah, I don't really want to be a giant bowl of melted butter either…" Sonny spoke gently so she wouldn't hurt the other three's feelings.

"See. Sonny and I are together on this. Giant lobster dinner idea is out," Tawni stated.

"But that's only two against three. We still win," Grady pointed out.

"Yes, but I count as two people." Tawni flashed everyone a toothy, innocent grin.

"That makes it even then," Zora said, logically.

"Sonny counts as one and half people. Case closed. No lobsters." Tawni dismissed the idea with the wave of her hand and went back to drawing something on her own paper.

Sonny couldn't help but smile. She still couldn't believe Tawni and her were actual friends now. Sure it had taken almost an entire year, but the outcome was worth the wait. Sonny had finally found her niche in her _So Random _family.

"But that's not…" Nico trailed off. He jumped up and gasped. "Mandy!"

"What?" Everyone else asked before turning to the doorway.

"Surprise!" Mandy shouted with her arms held out "ta-da" style.

Tawni was the first one to reach Mandy and break her no-hugging rule.

"Hi, you guys," Mandy said from in between the group hug.

Sonny just stood to the side watching them all, smiling. She had been a big Mandy fan before she came on _So Random_.

"What are you doing back here?" Tawni asked once the hug had broken apart and everyone was seated around the room with Mandy in the middle of their attention.

"Well, I just thought I'd visit my old friends. I hadn't realized you replaced me. I haven't been watching _So Random _lately so…" Mandy trailed off, glancing sideways at Sonny.

"Yeah, Sonny came along right after you left," Grady explained from his seated position on the couch, right next to Mandy.

"Oh…" Mandy twirled her a piece of her light brown hair around her finger nervously. "This is kind of awkward then…"

"What do you mean?" Zora asked from the open sarcophagus.

"I also sort of came back in hopes of maybe rejoining you guys…" Mandy said, shifting uncomfortably.

Tawni jumped out of her seat. "Really?" she asked, excitedly.

"Well, I can't now…"

"Well, how about we ask Marshall if she could just be added on as a sixth member?" Nico suggested.

"Yeah," Sonny agreed. "Who says we can only have five cast members?"

"Okay," Mandy agreed, brightening at the idea.

_**Marshall's office, ten minutes later…**_

"Sorry guys. We've been getting our budget cut all over the place, and even with our new profits from the check-it-out girls merchandise and popularity from Sonny, I don't think we can afford to add another member. I'm very sorry, Mandy," Marshall said regretfully to Mandy and his cast of kids.

"What? But… Mandy was one of the original members of _So Random_!" Tawni protested. "Everyone in the audience practically cried when Mandy left the show. Everyone loves her. We can't just deny her, her old job.

"Well, Tawni, we actually can since Sonny already took her old job. She's already her replacement," Marshall explained.

Everyone looked at Sonny, except for Mandy who just stared at the gray carpet. Sonny recoiled slightly from the stares. Mostly from the two coming from Tawni and Grady.

"Well… not to be mean… we love Sonny but… she's had a good year-long run. Maybe it's time to say goodbye to Sonny for a while and hello to Mandy again," Tawni suggested.

Marshall sighed. "You guys, I can't just kick Sonny off the show for Mandy to come back."

"Couldn't you just consider it?" Grady asked.

Sonny's mouth dropped open in shock. Zora and Nico both slapped Grady's arms at the same time.

"What?" he asked innocently, rubbing his arms.

"Kids…" Marshall began.

"You can't even consider it?" Tawni snapped.

Zora and Nico both glared at her. They didn't want to give up Sonny for Mandy.

Marshall flinched slightly at the sound of Tawni's harsh, high-pitched tone. "Well-"

"Please?!"

Marshall frowned slightly and glanced back and forth from Sonny to Mandy. "Alright… I will _think_ about it. But you should know, at this point, Sonny is staying and Mandy is a guest star on _one _reunion episode."

"Marshall, it's okay, really," Mandy said. "I really don't need my position back that badly."

"Mandy, shh! He said he'd consider it." Tawni said grinning.

Sonny could feel her insides frown. She had thought she was friends with all of them here. Not just Nico and Zora.

Tawni and Grady caught sight of Sonny's face.

"Sweetie," Tawni said, crossing the room and hesitated slightly before placing an arm around Sonny's shoulders. "We'll always be friends, and we still love you. It's just that… you _have _been on the show for over a year now."

"Right… We just think it would be nice if Mandy could come back for a while. Before she gets another big movie deal or something," Grady added. "It's not that we dislike you. It's just that…"

"You like her better?" Sonny asked, checking their expressions carefully.

Mandy hid her face in her hands. She hated that she was causing all of this conflict. _Why did I even bring it up in the first place?_ She wondered to herself.

Zora and Nico both fired out a quick, reassuring "no, of course not," while Grady and Tawni remained silent.

Sonny shrugged out from under Tawni's arm and forced a smile and feeble laugh. "Hey, it's okay. We're still friends, right?"

"Right," they agreed.

Sonny nodded like that solved everything and like that was the end of the conflict centered on her and her job. When really, it was far from over, and Sonny was far from comforted by those words.

**Okay, so what did you think? Worth continuing? Please tell me, I appreciate feedback. Next chapter is coming soon if you guys want me to continue. And remember, (I know, I'm being pushy, but...) don't forget to take a look at the banner I made for this. Obviously you don't have to it's just... I don't know, I want to hear some of your opinions, I guess. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review and tell me if I should continue. Thanks! **


	2. I'd Have To Go With Mandy

**Sorry it's been awhile. I'd been putting off writing the rest of this chapter because I was a little stuck, but, since Blue Scrubs PMed me and asked me to continue and update soon, I went back to writing it. So you have her to thank for me updating today. Thanks for the encouragement. Also, iDreamt, you actually guessed half of what I had planned out for this. You guys are way too smart. :) Anyways... here's chapter two. **

Chapter Two: I'd Have To Go With Mandy

While Tawni, Mandy, and Grady went off to do who knew what, Sonny, Nico, and Zora met up in the prop room to discuss their current situation.

"So, why do they like Mandy so much?" Sonny asked. "I mean, she seems really sweet and all, but why…?"

Zora looked up at Sonny from her laying down position on the floor. "Well, Grady has always had a massive crush on Mandy, so it's not surprising that he'd take her side."

"As for Tawni, we never could figure out _exactly_ why she liked Mandy so much. Personally, I think it's because Mandy isn't the most talkative person and Tawni can do all the talking. Plus, they both love shopping and fashion, so… I don't know." Nico shrugged.

Sonny thought about her next question carefully before she spoke. "Why aren't you guys on Mandy's side?"

"Well, I don't know about Nico, but, you may not know this, but I consider you to be one of my very close friends, Sonny," Zora said, sincerely. "Besides, Mandy never understood my humor. She never liked the way I did my hair or chose my clothes. She never told me that personally, but Tawni would say it and she'd agree."

Sonny was caught off guard a little. She _hadn't _realized Zora considered her a very close friend.

"Well, my reason is the same as Zora's. Her first one, anyway. I'd hate it if we kicked you off just because one of our old cast members came back wanting her spot back. It wouldn't be right. Mandy may be nice enough, but she's not as optimistic as you are," Nico complimented.

"Aww… you guys… That's the nicest thing you guys have ever said to me," Sonny said, smiling, fanning her face to keep the appreciative-tears from brimming over.

"Team Sonny has to stay strong and stick together!" Zora said, springing to her feet and punching the air with her fist.

"Yeah!" Nico also stood up.

Sonny stood up. "'Team Sonny'?"

"Yes, that's what we are from now on," Zora stated putting her hands on her hips like a superhero. "Team Sonny."

"Yep, but… speaking of dinner," Nico started offhandedly.

"Who was speaking of dinner? We were just talking about Team Sonny," Zora said seriously.

"Well, since you brought it up, can we go eat?"

Zora started to protest but Sonny cut in before they could get into an argument. "No, dinner sounds good. Let's go eat," Sonny said, feeling a bit more optimistic.

"To the Commissary!" Nico said dramatically.

"Ugh, can't we go somewhere with _real_ food?" Zora complained.

"No, remember, Brenda's sister, Alice is subbing for her today. There _is _real food being served." Nico led their small group to the door and down the hall.

"Oh, right."

Sonny didn't really hear her two friends talking anymore as she stared at the walls and random pictures they passed on their way to the Commissary. She was the first to round the corner, but the last to see what, or rather _who_, was coming from the opposite direction.

"Walk much?" Chad asked, steadying Sonny after being smashed into.

Sonny took a tiny step back from him and glared. "No, but I hear its fun. I _was _going to apologize, but now I don't think I will."

"Ouch," he responded sarcastically. Chad turned around and continued walking down the hallway and out of sight.

"Anyway, jerk-throbs aside, you have nothing to worry about, Sonny," Nico continued assuring her. "There's no way Marshall would let you go. And if he does, then Zora and I will quit too. Right, Zora?"

"Right!" Zora said with great enthusiasm.

"Thanks guys. I think I'm starting to feel a little better," Sonny said, partially telling the truth. In reality, the words _were _comforting and all, but it didn't change the fact that Grady and Tawni had practically stabbed her in the back, and then turned the knife by asking Marshall to kick her off the show.

"That's what we're here for," Nico said, speeding up his pace almost unnoticeably as they entered the Commissary and could smell the edible food.

Once they had all gotten their food, they took a seat at _So Random_'s usual table.

"I wonder what would happen if I mixed this all up with chocolate…," Zora mused. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully while staring at her plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

"Uh, you'd have spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate," Nico said with a mouth full of food.

"Sounds kind of gross," Sonny commented.

"Okay… But what if I melted the chocolate, and then poured it on? Huh? Huh?" Zora looked to Sonny and Nico.

"Ew, chocolate on spaghetti and meatballs! Gross, Zora!" Tawni complained pulling up a chair at their table with a tray of food also. Mandy and Grady were with her.

Zora just looked away and stabbed a meatball with her fork.

Tawni looked at Sonny who still had the I've-just-been-betrayed-by-everyone-I-know expression on her face. "Sonny, are you upset with us?"

"No, it's just that-" Sonny tried to explain but was stopped short.

"Sonny, no fraternizing with the enemy!" Zora exclaimed.

"Since when are we the enemy?" Grady asked.

"Since you joined Team Mandy, that's when," Nico said.

"What's this I heard about teams?" Chad asked, walking up all the sudden.

Sonny tried to ignore the way Chad putting his hands on the back of her chair and just his presence made her so jumpy. She tilted her head back until she could see him upside down. "Nothing, now leave," she said a bit harsher than she intended.

Not that that fazed him. "Someone said something about 'Team Mandy' and whatnot," Chad continued.

Sonny looked back down at her plate as soon as Chad looked down at her when he started speaking.

"What is…?" he trailed off when he saw Mandy. Chad's eyes widened. "_Mandy_? What are you doing back here?"

"She's _trying _to steal Sonny's job," Zora said accusingly.

Mandy winced. "I'm really not. I don't even want the stupid job anymore."

"Mandy, forget what they say," Tawni said, patting Mandy's hand.

"Who do you want to stay?" Grady asked Chad out of the blue.

"Uh…" Chad looked from Sonny to Mandy several times. He shrugged. "I guess I'd have to go with Mandy," he responded.

"What?!" everyone, even Mandy, asked in shock.

"Why?" Sonny hated how she sounded wounded when she spoke. She had meant to sound tougher and like it didn't bother her at all, but now she had given him the impression that she cared about his opinion and was hurt that he chose Mandy. Even though that was all true, it wasn't like she wanted _him_ to know that.

"I did eeny-meeny-miny-mo in my head and Mandy won," he said as if that explained away everything.

"That's it! We're leaving!" Zora shouted, pushing away from the table. She picked up her tray and started for the exit.

Sonny silently picked up her tray and followed her friends out the door after carefully avoiding meeting anyone's gazes. She followed Zora and Nico all the way back to the prop room.

"Oh, this is low!" Zora exclaimed angrily as soon as she walked through the prop room's doorway.

"Yeah, I don't see why Grady had to go and ask for Chad Dylan Cooper's opinion," Sonny agreed. "He's not even on the show, _and _he's our enemy, so…"

"That's not what we're talking about," Nico said. "We never told you the whole story of why _So Random _and _Mackenzie Falls_ are rivals."

"There was more?" Sonny questioned.

"Way more!" Zora said, pacing the room.

"You see, Mandy and Chad Dylan Cooper used to date," Nico said, starting his story on _So Random_ history.

"What?!" Sonny exclaimed.

"It's true. For awhile they were disgustingly inseparable." Zora made a gagging noise.

"But what about the rivalry? Didn't that have an effect on their relationship?"

"Sonny, keep up. This was before there was any competition going on between our two shows." Zora stopped pacing to explain to Sonny.

"Oh, right. So, go on. They were disgustingly inseparable…" Sonny prompted.

"Well, that only lasted for about two months. We never did get to know exactly why they broke up; we just know it left them both extremely ticked at the other person." Nico shrugged.

"Wait, wait… I don't remember reading they were dating or that they broke up." Sonny looked from Zora to Nico for an answer.

"Everyone in Hollywood keeps secrets from the press, Sonny, and some do it better than others. _We _were very good, loyal friends who didn't say a word to the press about any of it," Nico said proudly, gesturing to Zora and himself.

"Anyway, a few out of control pranks from both _So Random _and _Mackenzie Falls_ later, and we were rivals. Mandy and Chad's broken relationship is the precise reason we have the code, as a matter of fact," Zora said, pulling the scroll out from behind the couch.

"Wow. So that's the real reason we're rivals," Sonny said, still surprised.

"Yeah. That's why it's so low that Chad Dylan Cooper would actually side with _Mandy_," Nico said, shaking his head.

Sonny frowned. She had forgotten about that little detail. "Why _would _he do that? I mean, we don't always get along but I never thought he wanted me to leave that much..." She looked down at the floor.

"Okay, pop quiz!" Zora jumped onto the couch. "Do you like Chad Dylan Cooper?"

Sonny jumped slightly. "What?" Her voice was two pitches too high to be truly innocent.

"Sonny, if we want to be a successful team, we have to be perfectly honest with each other, and if you like Chad, that effects almost everything," Zora said, talking with her hands.

"Uh…" Sonny hesitated.

"We won't hold anything against you if you do," Nico assured her.

"Isn't there a rule in the code about dating the enemy?" Sonny joked.

Zora and Nico exchanged a look and Sonny frowned.

"Well, the funny thing about that is… _recently_… someone took a black Sharpie and crossed that rule out," Nico said too casually to be telling the truth. He looked meaningfully at Zora who winked in return.

Sonny couldn't help smiling. At least she had two friends left.

"So… do you or don't you?" Zora prodded.

"Well… I really don't know. Maybe… I don't know. He's so confusing," Sonny admitted. "Yes, I guess."

"I knew it!" Nico shouted victoriously. "Ha! Grady owes me ten bucks!"

"You're not going to tell him are you?" Sonny asked, panicked.

"Of course he's not. Are you, Nico?" Zora glared at him.

"No, of course not. I mean… who needs ten dollars?"

"That's right," Zora said, hopping down from the couch. "Well, now that we know that, this makes it even more personal!"

"So… what are we going to do? If anything?" Sonny asked.

"Hmm… I'll have to get back to you on that one because I've got nothing," Zora said.

"Oh… great…"

**Okay, so, I hope you liked it. Kind of just a little filler chapter to get more background on everything and then of course the shock -gasp- of Chad choosing Mandy. And, because I got bored and wanted to experiment a little more with making banners, I made another banner for this when I should've been writing this chapter. The link's on my profile, check it out if you want... I think that's about it. Tell me what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading and I'll update soon. :)**


	3. So Dead

Chapter Three: So Dead

After losing a coin toss for who had to go make a frozen yogurt run, Sonny entered the _almost _empty Commissary. Chad was standing right next to the frozen yogurt machine.

Sonny walked across the room and set about getting the yogurt without acknowledging his existence.

"Hey, Sonny," Chad said, conversationally.

Sonny turned to glare at him. "Oh, you're still talking to me? Won't Team Mandy be upset?"

Chad furrowed his eyebrows in confusion for a second before realization hit him. "Oh. You're still upset about that." It wasn't a question.

"No one asked for your opinion."

"Actually, I believe his name was…" He looked at the ceiling, trying to remember his name. "…Cloudy…?"

Sonny rolled her eyes. "His name is Grady, and if someone asked you to stop breathing would you listen to them?"

"Of course not," Chad scoffed.

"Well then. And… why'd you…? Never mind." She turned her back to him.

"No, what? Why'd I pick Mandy? I already told you."

"Okay, well care to pick a different excuse that lets me down any gentler?" Sonny asked sarcastically.

"What?"

Sonny faced him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, I know that Mandy is your ex-girlfriend and that you two shining people of society are the whole reason there's a rivalry between our shows. And you chose _her_. You'd rather have an ex around as opposed to me. I get it. But your first excuse as to why you chose her was kind of suck-y."

"But that was why I chose her," Chad said simply.

"Well that's great. Now I'm on the status of an annoying ex-girlfriend, and since you don't want either of us around, you had to use a kid's game to take a side."

"That wasn't why I used that method."

"Then why _did _you?" Sonny asked.

"I can't tell you," he stated.

"Well, alright, then. In that case, I've got to go." Sonny picked up the tray with three frozen yogurt cups on it and stalked off. She didn't look back even when she heard him telling her to come back. Hmph. See if she cared.

_**The Next Day in the Commissary…**_

Team Mandy had officially packed up and moved to the table in the opposite corner from where _So Random_'s original table was.

"All the better for us," Zora said optimistically. "We can strategize in peace now."

"Strategize?" Sonny asked.

Zora leaned her head closer to the center of the table, her various braids swinging with the movement. "I overheard them talking while I was in the vents. They're planning on meeting with Marshall to try and convince him and get him on their side," her voice was low when she spoke so as not to be heard by anyone else outside of their threesome.

"How underhanded," Nico said, biting into a bread roll.

Sonny gave Zora a disparaging look. "Well we're not going to sabotage it."

"Says who?" Zora asked innocently.

Sonny gave her a so-not-happening look.

Zora's innocent act halted quickly. "Sonny, Sonny, Sonny… All's fair in love and war. And we are at war here." The plastic spork in Zora's eleven year old hand stabbed into the center of the unappealing meatloaf on her plate.

Sonny frowned and inconspicuously scooted farther away from Zora and her deadly spork of doom. Yikes…

Chad suddenly appeared and slid into the empty seat on Sonny's left side. "Hey, what's up?"

Sonny glared at him. "Nothing, now go away."

"Ouch," Chad pretended to be wounded. He shrugged and stood up. "Alright, fine." He started to walk away but started laughing and turned back around. "Oh, and by the way, Team Mandy is nicer about visitors."

That was Sonny's breaking point. Her eyes narrowed and suddenly her hands had a mind of their own when they picked up Zora's meatloaf, spork and all, and threw it at Chad.

"Whoa!" Chad ducked and the meatloaf went sailing over his head and hit Tawni in the shoulder.

Sonny groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "Why me?"

"Alright, who threw that?" Tawni demanded, angrily pushing back from the table.

At least half of the Commissary pointed to Sonny, including Chad and Nico. When Zora saw Nico blaming Sonny for it, she smacked his hand down.

Sonny's eyes widened and her expression very much resembled the "deer in the headlights" look. "Uh, no, Tawni, I just meant to hit Chad. I'm sorry, I-ah!"

Tawni angrily whipped a spoonful of mashed potatoes at Sonny, hitting her right on her nose.

Sonny scrunched her eyes closed and gingerly wiped off the potatoes with her fingers.

"Ha! That's a good look for you, Sonny," Tawni laughed, receiving a high-five from Grady and a reluctant thumbs-up from Mandy.

"Oh yeah?" Zora yelled. She jumped up on her chair. "Well I think Tawni would look much better with a little green on her top!" Zora hurled a handful of something green and mushy (gross, mushy green beans?) and nailed the edge of Tawni's white shirt. "Ha! Direct hit!" she cackled maniacally.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Tawni shrieked, flapping her hands in the air, in disgust.

Sonny started getting nervous when there was a short three second pause throughout the room. _Oh no! Not a-_

"Food fight!" Grady yelled pelting two bread rolls one after the other at Nico.

Chaos broke out as all of the various shows' casts started flinging food at each other. Brenda widened her eyes and quickly pulled down the metal divider separating herself and her kitchen from the flying food.

Sonny and Chad both crouched down on the floor and crawled for some kind of shelter.

"This is all your fault!" Sonny shouted at Chad over the pandemonium.

"How is this my fault? You're the one who threw the meatloaf at me!" Chad shouted back, grimacing as his palm sunk into a pile of mashed potatoes on the floor.

"You're the one who took Mandy's side!" Sonny stopped crawling and maneuvered herself around on her hands and knees to face Chad. "You… you… jerk-face!"

"You just can't let that go, can you? Look, I'll take your side if you're that worked up about it!" Chad raised his hand and wiped the mashed potatoes off his hand and onto Sonny's sleeve, making a face of disgust.

Sonny looked at her sleeve and then back at Chad, raising an eyebrow. "Smart. Wipe food on the girl you're trying to reason with," she said, dripping with sarcasm.

They both looked up when they heard Portlyn shrieking and ducking under the table with the rest of _Mackenzie Falls_' girls.

"When do you think this is going to end?" Chad asked.

"Hey, don't you try to make conversation with me! I'm mad at you," Sonny said, looking disgruntled again.

Chad rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak but another voice cut him off.

"_What is going on in here_?!" a familiar voice bellowed out from the entrance of the Commissary.

"We are so dead," Sonny muttered.

There were a few random coughs from the back of the room.

"Well? Who started this-this food fight?" Sonny knew it was Mr. Condor's voice without even having to lift her head to check over the tops of the tables.

Everyone traitorously pointed in Sonny's general direction in the corner with Chad.

Sonny cringed and got up onto her knees raising her hand timidly in the air. She laughed nervously. "Mr. Condor… what a surprise to see you here again… So um… how's Dakota?"

Mr. Condor frowned at her and crossed his arms.

Chad suddenly also stood up on his knees and raised his hand. "I uh, I started it too, Mr. Condor… sir…"

Sonny wrinkled her eyebrows and looked at Chad in surprise.

"Well, then, you two are very lucky I'm in a very giving mood," Mr. Condor blustered, giving the impression that he wasn't in a "very giving mood."

Sonny found herself looking at Chad again but quickly turned back to stare at Mr. Condor after she remembered she was still mad at him.

"Because of that, I'm not going to fire you two, like I clearly should. Instead, I want you two in my office right now to have a little talk. And after that, you can spend some quality time together cleaning up this mess in here, _and_ the mess of unflattering litter in the parking lot," Mr. Condor spoke in a voice that said neither should dare try to reason with him on the conditions.

Both Sonny and Chad inwardly groaned.

"Do I make myself clear?" Mr. Condor narrowed his eyes at the guilty party.

"Yes, sir…" Sonny and Chad said robotically.

"Then get up off the floor and come with me to my office, _right now_," he ordered.

They scrambled to their feet and scurried to the door.

As Sonny passed by Zora, Zora whispered loudly to Sonny: "This means war, now!"

Sonny just sighed and followed Mr. Condor out the food-covered doorway with an unusually nice Chad at her side.

_Marshall isn't going to like this…_ Sonny thought hopelessly. This just wasn't her week.


	4. Wet Clowns and Snobs

Chapter Four: Wet Clowns and Snobs

Sonny sloshed a big yellow sponge through a bucket of sudsy water and ran the sponge over a patch of drying mashed potatoes on the floor. "This is so gross," she muttered under her breath. The food served in the Commissary was disgusting enough without being dried out and smeared across every available surface in the room.

"Well it's all your fault," Chad said accusingly from across the room. He tentatively speared a piece of meatloaf with a plastic fork and whipped it into the garbage can.

Chad Dylan Cooper did not do hard work. Especially not hard work that included cleaning up food from a food fight he didn't even start. _Why did I tell Mr. Condor that I started the stupid food fight with Sonny? Oh yeah. Because I'm turning too soft. I'm a big, soft idiot! _

"You know, technically, this is actually your fault. You're the one who provoked me. If I had been a cow and you were provoking me, instead of almost getting hit by meatloaf, you would've gotten kicked in the stomach. So, feel lucky," Sonny said, angrily. How dare he pin this on her? Just because she threw the first food item, did not mean that it was entirely her fault.

Chad gave her a look and shook it off. "Well, funny, because I don't feel so lucky scraping food off the side of the wall when I _should_ be enjoying a loganberry smoothie on the set of the Falls now."

"Well this isn't exactly my dream situation either. I'd much rather be working on a sketch or… going home…" Sonny said wistfully. Yes, home definitely sounded better than anything else, especially with this ridiculous rivalry between the members of _So Random_ going on.

Chad sighed. "I could be getting a massage right now. Instead I'm scraping dead Chuckle City food off the windows. My life has officially hit a low point I didn't think existed," he observed thoughtfully.

Ignoring Chad's complaints, Sonny scooted the bucket of soap and water farther over with her foot and started in on the next section of floor, wall, tables, and chairs to clean. "You know, I probably should never have come here…" she said quietly.

Chad heard her from across the room and nodded in agreement, interpreting it a little differently than how she meant it though. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Every day I regret coming in here. I mean, just looking at what you have to eat almost makes me completely lose my appetite every time."

Turning around to clean a table, Chad gagged when he saw _more_ green mush smeared across the top. He shuddered before gingerly reaching out with a sponge to start cleaning it off.

Sonny shook her head and got down on her hands and knees to clean the floor. "No, I didn't mean I regretted coming to the Commissary today, I meant sometimes I wonder if I should've ever even come _here_. To _So Random_, to Hollywood, just… _here_ in general, because it's not like I belong. People like Mandy, and Tawni, and even Zora belong here. They're all unique but aren't naïve about everything like I am," Sonny stated, not particularly caring whether or not Chad was actually listening or not.

But Chad had indeed been listening. "Well… who really belongs here anyway?" he asked rhetorically.

"You belong here. Or at least, you fit in here. I don't. I never have. I mean, how many people out here do you know who have tried to throw a peace picnic to settle a disagreement?" Sonny questioned seriously.

"Well…"

"Or people out here who have actually managed to trip almost the whole way down the red carpet?"

Chad broke the tension by laughing a genuine laugh. "That wasn't actually your fault. Portlyn weighted your shoes down with uneven weights in each shoe."

He cleared his throat when Sonny didn't say anything else and simply continued scrubbing down the floor. "But uh, it wasn't really that funny, and I didn't know she was even doing it at the time or else I might've… maybe… it's possible… I would've tried to stop her, since you did um, hurt yourself on the last trip right?"

"No, not really. And thanks, Chad, but it's just too little too late. That just reinforces my point. I'll always be the outsider here that everyone thinks is just too sweet and too innocent for her own good. Either that or I'm just the freaky, naïve, cow-girl." She shook her head and had to blow a stray strand of hair away from her eyes.

"I think I might just let Mandy have my job," Sonny added softly. "Everyone wants her to have it. Even _you_ want her to have it."

"I never specifically said that I wanted Mandy to take your place. If I had, I would've remembered," Chad said confidently, as usual.

"Well it was implied when you said you would be on Team Mandy."

"For the last time Sonny, I didn't _really_ mean that." Chad, frustrated, meant to shove the sponge he was using into the bucket of water but instead, shoved the bucket over with a loud clang. Chad groaned as the water seeped into the carpeting.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Sonny said, a little cheerier.

"Well, isn't that great," he said sarcastically. "More to clean up. What is with my life suddenly being filled with cleaning? I _hate_ cleaning. I shouldn't even know how to clean," he continued grumbling while he reset the bucket upright and was forced to move closer to Sonny and share with her.

Sonny watched Chad thoughtfully for a minute. "Chad, why are you even here? You didn't have to say that you started it too. Technically. Why would you do that for me?"

Chad froze for two seconds without an excuse before he continued scrubbing a random spot on the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do this for you. I did it so I could…" He searched the room desperately with his eyes for a way out of this one. His eyes landed solely on Sonny. "Uh, so I could see what you look like with your hair wet," he finally said.

Sonny's face twisted in confusion. "What? My hair isn't wet."

Chad also stood up on his knees and wrung his sponge full of soapy water out onto Sonny's head. When it was empty of water, he shook out his hands over her as well. Sonny just sat there with her eyes shut to keep the soap from entering her eyes with her jaw set.

"There," he said in a satisfied tone. "Now it is."

Sonny wiped the drips of water away from her eyes and flashed Chad a fake smile. She reached for the full bucket of water and emptied it out over Chad's head.

"There. That's much better," she said, also sounding satisfied.

"How could you do that to _me_? That was completely uncalled for!" he complained.

"Uncalled for? All I asked was a simple question and suddenly I'm getting water and soap poured on my head! You more than deserved it!"

Chad decided to take the opportunity to get revenge right then and there by shaking out his hair and wetting down Sonny, and the walls, even more with sudsy water.

"That's it!" Sonny shouted.

Chad's eyes widened and he scrambled to get up off the floor before Sonny could strangle him or something else of that nature. "Since when do you have such a horrible temper?" He asked, getting behind a chair.

Sonny leapt up from the floor and ran after him. "Since you started provoking me and ruining more could-be-sentimental moments by dumping water on me! And why are you running anyway? Since when does Chad Dylan Cooper run away from a challenge?"

Chad glanced behind him, noting that Sonny was a pretty fast runner as they made another lap around the Commissary. "Since Chad Dylan Cooper started fearing for his neck's safety."

"Oh, so now you're afraid of getting hurt by a girl?" she challenged, gaining on him.

"No, I'm afraid of getting hurt by _you_."

"What are you talking about?" Sonny grabbed him around the waist and tackled him to the ground. "I am a girl," she said breathlessly, suddenly forgetting about why she had been chasing him down in the first place.

"Yeah, fine, sorry, you're a girl, could you get off me?" Chad asked, hurrying through the apology.

"Well, well, well… Look what we have here," Dakota Condor said mischievously, walking slowly into the room.

"Oh no," Sonny muttered.

"We're dead. Again," Chad said simply.

"Daddy isn't going to be happy to find out his two little delinquents are flirting and lying down on the job." Dakota clicked her tongue in disapproval.

Chad immediately shoved Sonny off of him and they both rushed to stand up for their boss' daughter.

"What a shame to lose you two this way. I loved you so much, Chad." She shook her head dismally, circling Chad and Sonny like a little shark dressed in head-to-toe purple.

Chad's face contorted to one of disgust at the nine-year-old's obsessive crush on him.

"Well, Dakota…" Sonny laughed nervously. "We don't really have to tell your dad do we? We really were working. We just got distracted. I mean…" She quickly thought. _What does a psycho nine year old obsessed with Chad Dylan Cooper want? Oh… of course…_ "Chad'll go on a date with you!" she blurted.

"_What_?" Chad asked incredulously, elbowing Sonny in the ribs when she shrugged helplessly.

"Okay," Dakota agreed easily.

"You'll have to tell me _all_ about it," Sonny said tauntingly.

"No need. I'll need an overly-safe killjoy to come along with me so that Daddy will let me go." Dakota rolled her eyes.

Chad smirked at Sonny.

Sonny's eyes widened. "You mean _me_?"

Dakota nodded, smiling evilly. "Yep. You can both pick me up at five tonight. But my bed time is nine o'clock so we can't stay out too late. See you there." She waved and skipped out of the Commissary.

"Oh well this is just great," Sonny said sarcastically. "Now I get to spend the rest of my afternoon cleaning this up, cleaning the parking lot, _and_ going on a date with you and Dakota. As if I didn't have _enough_ to worry about!"

"Well this time you can't pin it on me, because this one was all you. 'Chad'll go on a date with you.'" He said in a high-pitched voice, giving a bad impersonation of Sonny.

"What, would you rather get fired?" She took the time to wring out her hair a little.

"I could be saying the same thing to you, who just made it seem like going on another date with me, would be a _bad_ thing."

"_Fake_ date," Sonny clarified. "And no, it's not my ideal to be forced into a date with you and the girl who makes the Loch Ness Monster seem like an Angelfish."

"Well I'm not happy about it either," he snapped.

"Let's just get some more water and get back to work. We have a _long_ afternoon ahead of us," Sonny said, trudging forward to retrieve one of the buckets off the floor.

"Yep. Together," Chad said dully.

"Hoorah," Sonny faked enthusiasm, even though she didn't exactly _hate_ the idea of spending the rest of the afternoon, and evening with Chad Dylan Cooper.

Chad followed suit and picked up the other bucket, walking beside Sonny to the kitchen.

After a moment, the silence became too uncomfortable for Chad so he decided to blurt out the first thing that came to mind. "Could you not stand so close to me? You smell like a wet clown." He cringed, mentally slapping himself for that one. _Idiot! _

"And you smell like a wet snob," she fired back with lightning speed, inching away from him as they approached the sink.

"Fine," Chad shot at her.

"Fine." Sonny turned on the water full blast, to fill up the bucket.

"Fine!" Chad turned the other faucet on full blast also.

"Fine!"

* * *

**--UPDATE - April 30, 2010--  
I'm sorry, but this story is now on permanent hiatus. My muse for it is gone. Sorry. :-(  
****If you absolutely _have_ to know what happens in the end, you can PM and I'll give you the general idea.  
As always, thank you for reading. :-) **


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